Will not accept position whereby OBC, EWS deprived of something due to them, Centre tells SC

NEW DELHI: The Centre told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that it would not accept a position whereby those falling in the OBC or the EWS category, whether before or after the exercise of revisiting the criterion of Rs 8 lakh annual income, are deprived of something that is legitimately due to them.

It urged the court to let the stalled NEET-PG counselling be allowed to go on as the demand of resident doctors is genuine and the country needs new doctors, even when the matter of the validity of the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quota is under adjudication. The NEET-PG candidates, who had challenged a July 29, 2021 notification for the implementation of the OBC and the EWS quotas from the 2021-22 academic year, opposed the government’s justification of applying the Rs 8 lakh income criteria, saying no study has been conducted. A bench of justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna said the hearing in the matter would continue on Thursday, after which it will pass some orders.

Appearing for the Centre, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said, “We, as a government, would request the court that we would not accept any position whereby OBC or EWS, whether pre or post the exercise, is deprived of something that is legitimately due to them.”

He said the notification for the quota dates back to January, 2019 and the EWS reservation has already been applied to many appointments and admissions.

“We are at a point where counselling is stuck. We need doctors during these times. We are ready to assist the court on the report but we cannot go into lengthy arguments. Like in any report, any intelligent mind can point out errors in the report. The question, however, would be whether the criteria for the poor is over inclusive and I can satisfy this court on the issue,” Mehta said.